Wednesday, June 15, 2011

Windows 8 App Store images leaked?

Windows 8 images continue to leak onto the Internet, despite Microsoft's wallpaper-based pleas to those with access to the early releases. Today's installment courtesy CNBeta shows the upcoming Windows App Store, which will likely feature prominently in Windows 8.

We've got our doubts about the authenticity of the image. In addition to showing several of the built-in games which already ship with Windows, Opera is listed -- and a competing browser seems like an odd inclusion this early on. Of course, with the browser ballot still in place in the EU for quite some time, Microsoft would probably need to include rivals like Opera and Firefox to stay out of trouble. We're also not sure why Clickgamer is shown beneath Angry Birds instead of Rovio -- the game's actual publisher.

It's still early, of course, so it's entirely possible that the Windows App Store image is genuine but merely using placeholder images and text for now. Anyone else thinking Windows Marketplace might be a more logical name? You know, to keep things consistent with Windows Phone and keep Apple's legal eagles at bay.